There is no medicine that will cure dyslexia. The brain works differently. But having dyslexia does not mean you lack intelligence. Imagine your brain is like a computer that is being put to work on a task that it was never designed for.

“It has nothing to do with how intelligent you are. You can be extremely bright and still have dyslexia.”

– Tim Tebow

Early identification is important.

But make sure you get the right type of assessment! There are lots of reasons why someone can fall behind at school so it is really important to first get hearing and eyesight checked.

An assessment for dyslexia should analyze neurodiversity. This means identifying an individual’s learning strengths and weakness. A weakness in specific learning skills will indicate the type of dyslexia and be used to find the most effective strategies.

WARNING – Many assessments that identify dyslexic difficulties do not use the word ‘dyslexia’. Words like ‘Auditory Processing Disorder’ and ‘Visual Memory Deficit’ are used to diagnose the specific type of dyslexia. Remember that dyslexia is neuro diverse – it affects people in different ways.

Believe in yourself. You can succeed.An impact of dyslexia is low self-confidence. When you can’t seem to do the things other people find easy then you start to believe it when people tell you you’re lazy or stupid. But when you stop trying there is no hope of success. The first step is to make a dyslexic understand that they can succeed with a different approach.

People with dyslexia can achieve success by using different learning methods. Dyslexics don’t remember by just seeing and hearing a word a few times – they forget! But a rule or strategy provides a way of working it out.

Start thinking about how you learn best and how you can adapt your learning. Then create your own strategies.

What help is available?Intensive teachingThis can be expensive but with the right teacher it is very effective.

Orton-Gillingham training is desirable. There is no quick fix. Expect many years of tuition.

Programs on computer and tabletNessy is an online learning program that has been created by dyslexics, and specialist teachers. Nessy will assess, provide strategies, rules and learning games. This is an affordable and effective solution when a tutor is beyond your means.http://www.nessy.com/us/product/nessy-reading/